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Master Craftsman Award and two fellowships from the
Creative Glass Center of America.

His work is recognized and valued worldwide, and he's

been instrumental in introducing the art form to thousands of
students at Corning's Studio, Penland School of Crafts,
Pilchuck Glass School, Rhode Island School of Design,
University of Hawaii, University of the Arts, UrbanGlass in
Brooklyn, and now at GlassWorks at the Banana Factory in
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

As the chairman of the artist's planning committee and

project manager, Harmon was integral in the design and
development of the New York Experimental Glass Workshop
--now UrbanGlass in Brooklyn, a renowned center for
encouraging and showcasing the work of accomplished glass
artists. It was the first and is now the largest artist-access glass
center in the United States, serving as the primary studio for
more than 350 accomplished glass artists a year.

"In New York City, we were going to be kicked out of our

space in Little Italy and didn't even have a building to start
with," recalled Harmon. "That was a five-year process that
included everything from the initial design to convincing the
president of the Brooklyn Borough we weren't going to blow
up the whole block."

At the Banana Factory in Bethlehem, Harmon designed and

built the 1,200-square-foot studio, manages the operation,
recruits professional glassblowing artists, and oversees and
mentors the work of several apprentices. He also develops
educational programs geared toward young students and
adults through the Banana Factory's outreach programs,
which offer more than 100 classes each year. Harmon is also
making great strides in setting up the first college accreditation
program at the Banana Factory.

His role there affords Harmon the opportunity to

indulge his passion for building bridges between professional,
high-end artists and glass novices.

"I have never drawn a line between fine art and glass art," he

said. "Glass is simply another medium that presents the potential
to create any idea, with glass as an element of that expression."

Harmon's new Banana Factory studio houses a state-of-

the-art furnace shared by education and professional artists.
Other features include gloryholes of various sizes for reheat-
ing, annealers to slowly cool the glass, pipes for blowing and
hot sculpting, a hot garage, and a variety of tools used to fash-
ion and finish the glass.

The studio also incorporates educational facilities for flame-

working, and beadmaking which involves the use of specially
designed torches to manipulate glass. His hopes are to expand
the program by setting up classroom facilities for fusing,
slumping, cutting, polishing and sandblasting glass as well.

A key design element involves generous expanses of win-

dowed spaces so the glassblowing process will be on full display.

"People get fascinated by it," Harmon says. "It's the kind

of thing where you just stop and stare and then wonder where

June 2007 · www.craftsreport.com

Above:

Grey & Coral Snake piece, 2006. 15" H x 11" W. Blown glass

with glass wraps.

Below:

Maple Tree piece. 17" H x 7" W. Cast glass into mold made

from maple tree bark.